Lawmakers delay vote on judges

RICHMOND -- The General Assembly on Wednesday postponed action on filling a slate of judicial vacancies throughout the state, as lawmakers worked to resolve a dispute with the Supreme Court of Virginia over the handling of performance evaluation reports on a handful of incumbent judges.

But a juvenile and domestic relations court vacancy in the New River Valley is unlikely to be filled when the Senate and House of Delegates hold the vote Saturday because lawmakers representing the region have been unable to reach an agreement on a candidate.

That means circuit judges in the 27th District likely will have to fill the vacancy for one year. The circuit covers the counties of Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski and Wythe and the cities of Radford and Galax. The vacancy was created by the resignation of Keith Blankenship, who primarily heard cases in Wythe County.

Judicial vacancies are one of the major pieces of business that lawmakers must complete before their scheduled adjournment Saturday.

Lawmakers put the process on hold because of an ongoing disagreement with the Supreme Court over performance evaluations of five incumbent judges in the Richmond and Hampton Roads regions. The five judges were the first to go through an evaluation process that was created based on legislation passed in 2002.

The Supreme Court issued an order in November that prohibits lawmakers from making contents of the evaluation reports available to the public. Members of the General Assembly committees responsible for screening judicial candidates objected, saying they should be able to share the information with constituents.

Chief Justice Leroy Hassell, Justice Barbara Keenan and Justice Lawrence Koontz agreed to rescind the order Wednesday afternoon during a meeting with Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax County, chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee, and two committee members. Albo said lawmakers informally agreed not to share the performance evaluation documents, but said they would be able to discuss the contents publicly and during judicial interviews.

Albo said the tentative deal should allow lawmakers to complete action on the judgeships by Saturday.

Some lawmakers questioned whether the Supreme Court should be able to set terms on how to treat the evaluation information, citing concerns about separation of powers.

"I think this is one of the greatest challenges we have had to our authority," said Sen. Ken Stolle, R-Virginia Beach.

But Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, said the Supreme Court justices are trying to be cooperative. "I think we're getting all uptight about nothing," Kilgore said.

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